Hosea 5:1-14

Order of Service

• Call to Worship — Exodus 15:1-3
• Hymn — Praise to the Lord, the Almighty (#53)
• Catechism — Westminster Shorter Catechism Q&A 35–36
• Hymn — Trust and Obey (#672)
• Pastoral Prayer
• Scripture Reading — Hosea 5:1-14
• Sermon
• Closing Prayer
• Hymn — (#334)
• Benediction — 2 Corinthians 13:14

---

Sermon Title: The Marks of an Unrepentant Life

Scripture: Hosea 5:1-14

I. Unrepentance Is Infectious

A. God summons kings, priests, and all the people to hear his charge (Hosea 5:1-2)

1. Sin has spread from political centers (Mizpah) to countryside and mountains (Tabor, Shittim) — from kings and priests to the whole nation
2. God declares he will discipline all of them — he does not judge on a sliding scale; wherever sin is found, he will meet it

B. The pattern of spreading sin is seen throughout Scripture

1. The genealogy of Cain ends in Lamech glorying in murder (Genesis 4); by Genesis 6 the whole earth is filled with wickedness
2. A little leaven leavens the whole lump — the Reformers recognized church discipline as a mark of the true church precisely because unchecked sin spreads like gangrene

II. Unrepentance Is Ingrained

A. Their deeds do not permit them to return to the Lord (Hosea 5:4)

1. The northern kingdom was established in sin in 930 BC; every single king made Israel to sin — 150+ years of habitual, top-down disobedience
2. Habitual sin reaches a point where the call to repentance can no longer be heard — deeds enslave and will not allow turning

B. God is long-suffering, but his patience has a limit

1. Despite golden calves in Dan and Bethel from the very founding of the northern kingdom, God waited over 150 years before bringing this word of judgment
2. Noah's generation was given 120 years; Peter says the delay of Christ's coming is mercy so that all would repent (2 Peter 3:9)
3. Today is the day of salvation — do not allow sin to become so ingrained that repentance becomes unimaginable

III. Unrepentance Is Prideful

A. The pride of Israel testifies to his face (Hosea 5:5)

1. The northern kingdom was economically prosperous — syncretism seemed to be "working," making the call to repentance seem unnecessary
2. Like the Pharisees who claimed descent from Abraham, pride of status deafens people to the call to repentance

B. The modern motto that man is basically good is the pride of unrepentance

1. If man is basically good, he needs only education and self-improvement — not a Savior
2. Repentance follows humility; man's intentions are only evil continually from his youth (Genesis 6:5)
3. A right understanding of sin before a holy God is the necessary foundation for understanding repentance and turning to Christ

IV. Unrepentance Brings God's Judgment

A. Judah is also implicated — the princes of Judah moved the boundary markers of Benjamin, breaking the Deuteronomic covenant (Hosea 5:10; Deuteronomy 19; Deuteronomy 27)

B. Both Israel and Judah sought political alliance with Assyria to stave off judgment (Hosea 5:13; 2 Kings 15)

1. These diplomatic efforts are futile — the threat is not political but covenantal
2. The covenant curses of Deuteronomy 28 — enemy nations, wasting disease — are being fulfilled

C. Yahweh himself is the ultimate agent of judgment (Hosea 5:14)

1. Assyria is the physical instrument, but God declares: I, even I, will tear and go away; I will carry off and no one shall rescue
2. The church today similarly fears the judgment of culture more than the judgment of God — making alliances with the culture in place of faithfulness to Christ
3. Donald Grey Barnhouse's observation: if Satan took over a city, the churches would be full every Sunday — where Christ is not preached
4. Bethel (house of God) becomes Beth Aven (house of emptiness/nothingness) when Christ crucified is not at the center (Hosea 4:15)

D. The only remedy is Christ and him crucified

1. Our problem is not with culture, government, or programs — our problem as sinners is with God
2. The church must own its fallen estate before a holy God and turn to the only place we can be made clean — Christ Jesus
3. Corporate confession of sin reflects the longing to be Bethel, a true house of God, not Beth Aven